Editorial about LeBron, broadcasters revisited

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All right, fine. LeBron James is, in fact, the true MVP of the NBA. It was written here not long ago that the Miami Heat forward is the best player in the league, but not deserving of the MVP award. The assertion was based on the belief that James simply is not clutch in the biggest moments; or, more specifically, that he’s just the opposite. He proved as much in past playoffs time and time again. Well, that appears to have changed. While James didn’t hit any game-winning shots at the buzzer during his team’s 2012 championship run — the closest thing was a key 3-pointer in the final minutes of Game 4 — that was because he was so dominant he didn’t need to. Never did he look frightened of the moment, hesitant to shoot, searching for a teammate to bail him out. He took the ball to the hole with authority when his team needed a bucket. He defended with tenacity. He looked confident. His very demeanor exuded leadership and competence. He was good. Very good. For what it’s worth, he silenced at least one critic of his play.

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It also was written here that San Francisco Giants broadcasters Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper need to clean up their grammar. Both have developed bad habits, and they have become more blatant over the years — enough to warrant being called out on it. But as local residents Pete Kristian and Bob Bolton accurately pointed out, both are pretty cool dudes, and they make an outstanding broadcast team. While they may incorrectly use “good” in place of “well” dozens of times over the course of a game, they entertain loyal viewers with their considerable baseball knowledge, humorous quips and complementary personalities. When it comes down to it, they are two of the best in the business, in spite of their grammatical shortcomings. The real issue, as a couple of other readers accurately pointed out, is the fact that sloppy usage of the English language by professional communicators is rampant these days. Those who don’t like it, well, all we can do is grumble.

— Sylas Wright is the sports editor of the Sierra Sun and North Lake Tahoe Bonanza newspapers. He may be reached at swright@tahoebonanza.com.